Michigan State's Trae Waynes (15) celebrates his interception with Kurtis Drummond (27) with less than a minute remaining in the fourth quarter of an NCAA college football game against Nebraska, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2014, in East Lansing, Mich. Michigan State won 27-22. (AP Photo/Al Goldis)

Given the alternative, Michigan State will gladly accept its 27-22 win over Nebraska at rainy Spartan Stadium Saturday night.

But the Spartans pushed the envelope unnecessarily. They looked more like they did for decades prior to last season, before it all came together with Big Ten and Rose Bowl championships.

Nebraska played hard to the end, while the Spartans acted as if they were merely waiting for time to expire.

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When the Spartans had a 27-3 lead, the stadium half-emptied. Evidently, the idea of taking for granted the Spartans will merely roll through the Big Ten unchallenged again, like last season when they were 9-0 in the conference with each victory by at least double figures (counting the title game), is not a wise one.

The killer instinct that makes for championship programs was nowhere to be found Saturday.

Like at Oregon, the Spartans didn’t finish. They were fortunate this time Tommy Armstrong Jr., Nebraska’s scatter-armed quarterback, is no Marcus Mariota.

While the Spartans ultimately won, it didn’t feel right.

It wasn’t a triumph. It was a sigh of relief.

“I felt as an offense, we didn’t play well, including me,” MSU quarterback Connor Cook said. ”Defensively, we took 10 steps forward, but I felt we took a couple steps back offensively. We can use this as motivation so we never play this way again.”

That is especially true as the Spartans try to regain whatever cache they lost at Oregon, and attempt to get into college football’s version of the Final Four, the first-ever College Football Playoff.

And it had been going so well. The Spartans defense is incredibly stout against conventional offenses, such as the one featured by Nebraska. It resembles “That ‘70s Show,” minus Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis

Nebraska’s Ameer Abdullah is a terrific running back, though. He had three 200-yard games this season entering Saturday. MSU held him to 1.9 yards per carry. The Spartans simply stymied him. Armstrong took a beating. The Cornhuskers were going nowhere.

But the Spartans kept them in. They turned the ball over multiple times. They yielded a long punt return late to turn the game into a white-knuckle affair. They missed a makeable field goal. They let an interception slip through their hands. Running back Jeremy Langford didn’t stay inbounds during the last couple minutes as the Spartans were trying to run down the clock.

“It was 27-3 and we were in control of that football game. I’m just glad we’re not sitting here talking about how it slipped away,” MSU coach Mark Dantonio said.

“I guess it’s good to have a close game when you win one. We’ll take it. We’re 4-1.”

The win does help the Spartans’ quest toward a second straight Big Ten title. Only Ohio State appears very threatening on the remainder of their schedule.

But close victories hurt when it comes to reaching the College Football Playoff for teams with a defeat.

The Spartans won Saturday, but in a way they lost ground, and it could come back to haunt them.

About the Author

Pat Caputo has written as a beat writer and sports columnist for The Oakland Press since 1984 and blogs at http://patcaputo.blogspot.com/. Reach the author at pat.caputo@oakpress.com
or follow Pat on Twitter: @PatCaputo98.